Brett Hayes

My research focuses on the processes involved in “high-level” cognition; i.e. how people think, reason, categorize and make decisions. In particular my research focuses on: a) reasoning, decision-making and categorisation in adults, b) developmental change in these abilities, and c) relations between reasoning and memory. My work in these areas involves both experimental investigation and the development of computational models of cognition. I also have a long-standing interest in the development of children's eyewitness memory and the forensic applications of such research. A distinctive feature of my approach is that I study these processes both in their mature form (i.e. in adults) as well as how they develop during early and mid-childhood.